The Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems program was born out of the desire to standardize federal reporting and assist states in their capacity to standardize data practices. As early as the mid-2000s, policymakers recognized the need to standardize data approaches between different state systems. The Common Education Data Standards (CEDS) became a way to standardize approaches to configuring a data warehouse. At its core CEDS is a way to find and retrieve data. What the CEDS Community introduced to this approach was to create a mechanism to share data between states and the federal government. CEDS has become commonplace with many districts now also using the CEDS schema to warehouse and retrieve data.

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The Montana Office of Public Instruction proposed in its 2019 SLDS application that the GEMS Data Warehouse would be reconfigured along the CEDS framework. Policymakers desired a data warehouse that would streamline relations between districts and state agencies. Moreover, there was a desire to create a system in which to share deidentified, aggregate student data with other SLDS partners. CEDS is much like a card catalog that enables linkages between data elements, points you in the direction of finding data, and streamlines the process of federal reporting by allowing the database administrators to use standard scripts and procedures.

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The first step to creating a CEDS-aligned data warehouse is to ensure agency buy-in. The CEDS structure will primarily be used in reporting on the GEMS platform and to enable data linkages with other state agencies such as with the Montana University System or the Department of Labor & Industry. CEDS will allow these actors to cite which data elements they are looking for and ask the OPI database administrator to retrieve data for them. This ensures the privacy and confidentiality of student and staff records in that only deidentified and aggregate data will be released to third parties. With CEDS nothing is replaced. Rather CEDS is retrofitted as an important add on to enable data retrieval and sharing.

 

The second step for creating a CEDS-aligned data warehouse is the process of alignment. In its most basic form alignment takes the existing data descriptions and definitions and aligns this content with that available in the CEDS schema. Some data elements align to a greater degree than other data elements. In fact, some data elements do not align. But as we can see from the file below, there are many elements that align with the CEDS schema with 100% fidelity. Rather than working from the CEDS schema, the OPI will work from this alignment to gauge whether this data sharing and federal reporting is possible using the CEDS framework in the case of Montana.

 

 

OPI Staff are here to help:

Robin Clausen, Research Analyst Stakeholder Liasion, 406-444-3793

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